Method for operating phonographs



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 illlllllllllllllll Ill v INVENTOR HHRRY RVHNUEvsA/TERflTTORNEYIS March 16, 1943.

' H. R. VA-N DEVENTER I METHOD FOR OPERATING PHONQGRAPHS Filed Jan. 25,1941 March. 1943. H. R. VAN DEVENTER METHOD FOR QPERATING PHONOGRAPHSFiled Jan. 25, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT OR. H HRRY RVHNDEVENTER .14TTORNEYS Iii Patented Mar. 16, 1943 METHOD FOR OPERATING PHONOGRAPHSHarry R. Van Deventer, New York, N. Y., asslgnor to PeatrophoneCorporation, New York, N. Y.,

a corporation of Nevada Application January 25, 1941, Serial No. 375,884

7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in methodof and apparatus foroperating phonographs and processing records therefor, and has for itsobjectthe provision of a phonograph instrument using a re-usable recordblank-that is to say, a sound record may be recorded on the blank,played back, the recording obliterated from the blank without removingany material therefrom, and another recording made thereon-and thisprocess repeated indefinitely.

Another object is to provide a device of the character described inwhich the record blank remains in situ in the machine, and may berepeatedly used without shaving the blank.

Another object is to provide a method of processing a record blank forphonographs including the steps of recording on said blank, obliteratingsaid recording, and preparing said blank for use again by heating thesame while it remains in situ.

Other objects are the provision of a method of processing record blanksby obliterating the recording surface by heat wherein the length of timethe blank is heated by apparatus associated with the phonograph, or thetemperature to which the blank is heated, is pre-determined by suchapparatus, or where the application of heat to the blank is controlledby the density thereof.

Other objects will be apparent from a perusal of the followingspecification and claims, where, by way of illustration, one embodimentof the apparatus necessary to carry out the method herein disclosed andclaimed is described and illustrated. It will be understood, however,that the construction of the apparatus may be varied in wide limits fromthat shown and described, without departing from the inventive conceptas defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section,of apparatus for carrying out the method of processing phonographrecords herein described;

Figure 2 is a wiring diagram of the circuits of the apparatus shown inFigure 1;

Figure 3 is a detailed view of apparatus used when the application ofheat to the record blank is controlled by the density thereof;

Figure 4 is a diagram of an alternate method of connecting up thecontrols necessary in carrying out the herein described method; and

Figure 5 is a plan view of the underside of the heater unit l6 of Figure1.

In phonographs where the character of the record is such that it is notdesired to keep the record-for instance, in telephone message recorders,such as that shown in co-pending application Serial No. 333,268, filedMay 4, 1940, U. S. Patent No. 2,261,420, dated November 4, 1941, wherethe recorded message is played back once or twice and the record thenthrown away, and with ordinary dictating machines-it is desirable tohave a record blank that needs no renewal and that can be treatedwithout removing the same from the machine to wipe out anysounds'recorded thereon and prepare the surface of the blank for furtherrecording.

In phonographs employing disc record blanks, it is necessary to changethe blank when full, as no satisfactory means exist to remove therecording and use the blank. This is particularly true of record blanksfor so-called home recorders which are commonly made of cardboard discscoated with suitable material on which the recording is made.

With machines'using cylinder blanks, such as the well-known Edisonphonograph, it is possible to shave off the recording and use the blankrepeatedly, but the blank is gradually worn away and must ultimately bereplaced. As the blank is shaved, it gradually disappears and thecuttings are thrown away. As a sound record is recorded, the cuttingsare also thrown away, and in both cases no effort is made to returnthese cuttings to the individual record from whence they came.

The herein disclosed method and apparatus eliminates the abovedifiiculties and provides a record which may be termed perpetual" inthat it may be used over and over again while remaining in situ. By "insitu as hereinafter used in this specification and the claims, is meantthat the record remains in place associated with the recording andreproducing mechanism of the phonograph while it is treated inaccordance with the method herein disclosed.

While for the sake of illustration the record blanks herein shown are ofthe flat or disc type, it will be understood that by the use of suitableapparatus, cylinder blanks can be used, or the record blank may be ofany form such as a tape,

and while the accompanying specification dis-' closes a phonograph inwhich the record is moved, it will be obvious that this method may beapplied to phonographs in which the record remains stationary while therecording and reproducing mechanism moves over it.

In Figure 1, the numeral Ill denotes the usual revolvable record tableof a phonograph such as commonly employs disc record blanks. This table,

instead of merely supporting the usual blank, is made in the form of ashallow pan having an upstanding flange ii. This pan is filled with anysuitable material l2 upon which recordings can be made.

i There are many suitable materials, usually special wax compositionswell known in the art,

as well as metallic and plastic compounds. Toy

practice this method the material may be anything suitable that willsoften sufficiently when heated so that a recording made on the surfaceof the material may be obliterated by heating the upper surface of theblank until it is smooth, and then cooling the same to a propercondition for further recording thereon. For the sake of brevity thisrecord material will hereinafter be referred to as a wax, a termcommonly used to describe wax-like compounds used for this purpose.

If the record table is provided with a separable Joint l3, whereby it isconnected to the driving shaft ll of the usual driving motor l5, itcould be lifted on the drive shaft and heated in any suitable manner,cooled and returned to the phonograph. But this procedure would be ob-Jectionable in many cases; for example, in offices and the like where nofacilities exist for heating the record table and properly handling it,excluding dust, etc., and maintaining thesurface level while the wax isin liquid form, such procedure would be difficult and would prevent thismethod from being used, where the records would be handled by laymen.

This method of lifting the record table oil the drive shaft and heatingit may be used in studios and other places where the work is done byexperts, and this disclosure. to-wit, that of providing a removabletable holding a compound that can be melted and used over and over, istherefore useful although it is not the preferred embodiment of thebroad idea.

The heating of the record can be done without removing the record tablefrom the phonograph, and adverting to Figure 1, which shows the recordtable in the usual position it occupies in a phonograph, an electricheater I6 is mounted so that it may be swung down and over the recordingsurface of the wax I2, the usual recording or reproducer arm (not shown)being moved out of the way to permit this.

The heater I 6 may be of any suitable type, preferably a hot platehaving a smooth heating surface adjacent the wax. If desired, an exposedcoil type of heater may be used wherein the heating coil ii is directlyexposed to the surface of the wax. As there are many types of suitable,

heaters, no attempt will be made to describe one in detail, such heatersbeing in commonuse in connection with wame irons, smoothing irons, andmany other appliances.

The heater unit It is mounted on a suitable support l8 by means of aspring hinge 19, the spring 20 being disposed in relation to the partsof the hinge in a well known manner to cause the heating unit tonormally assume the open position shown in the dotted lines 2|that is tosay, spaced apart from the wax l2.

If necessary the heating unit may be mounted in the usual lid commonlyemployed with phonographs, or it may be mounted under this lid,suflicient space being allowed to permit the heater to spring upwardwhen released, as hereinafter described.

The purpose of having the heater unit hinged so that it can be movedupwards away from the 7 turn on the current, leave the phonograph andforget to turn off the current. Therefore, the

. circuit and apparatus shown in Figure 2 is provided, which not onlyautomatically turns on the heating current but also properly times theapplication of the heat to the wax. This is hereinafter termed theheating period, and this apparatus may also determine the "coolingperiod hereinafter referred to.

When it is desired to process a record, assuming a recording has beenmade which it is desired to obliterate, the heater unit I6 is moved viathe handle it (which may be of heat insulating material) to the positionshown in solid lines in Figure 1 against the tension of the spring inhinge l9. This operates the plunger 22, pushing the same downwardagainst the tension of and closing the switch springs carrying contacts23, 24. This completes a circuit from the current supply circuit 25-29,through the winding 21 of a thermostat 28, the contact 29 of which isnormally closed, and through the winding 30 of a locking magnet, thepole piece 3| of which is in contact with the armature plate 32 attachedto the heater unit. As the armature plate is magnetically held againstthe pole piece of the magnet by reason of the current flowing in thecoil 30, the heater unit It is thereby held in heating period position,during which period current also flows from current supply 25-28 viacontacts 23, 24, the thermostat arm 28 and contact 29, and through theheating coil l1, thereby heating the heater it which in turn heats theadjacent wax l2.

The current continues to flow as just described until the heating of thewinding 21 of the thermostat causes the arm 28 thereof to move andseparate from the contact 29. This opens the circuit through the coil30, and the core 3| is de-magnetized, releasing the armature plate 32secured to the heater unit It which is released and immediately moves(under the influence of the spring hinge i9) to the upper position shownin dotted lines 2| in Figure 1. At the same time it will be noted thecircuit is opened through the heating coil I 1, so that immediately theheating unit I 9 begins to cool.

Obviously, the length of time required for the thermostat arm 28 to moveto open the circuit as just described, can be predetermined by theadjustment of contact 29, and the heating peri can, therefore, beregulated by adjusting the thermostat, or by any other means such forexample as by introducing a variable resistance into the heater circuit.

Referring to Figure 1, it will be observed that there is a contact 33which can only contact with the spring arm 23 of the switch mechanismcontrolled by the position of the heater unit, when the heater unit isin non-operating (upper) position, and that this contact 33 controls theoperating circuit to the motor 34 in which circuit a manual switch 35may be inserted if desired. Obviously, as long as the heater unit is in"heating" position, the motor circuit will be open at contact 33,regardless of whether the switch 35 is open or closed and the motorcannot be operated; therefore the turn table l0 cannot be rotated andthe wax l2 disturbed 'by rotation while the record is being processed.But as soon as the "heating period" is terminated and the winding 30releases the heater unit l8, the circuit is established through thecontact 33 and then the motor 34 may be operated by closing the switch35.

While the thermostat or thermal relay 28 may be so timed or adjustedthat it will not open its contacts until the wax I2 is meltedsufilciently,

to obliterate the recording thereon, and at this point the controlcircuit is opened, thereby releasing the heater unit l6 anddisconnecting the heating coil l1, if this heater unit (which willremain hot for a time if once heated) remained close to the wax, theresidual heat in it would keep the wax soft over a longer period of timethan desirable, and to shorten this cooling period so that thephonograph can be used without undue delay, the heater unit isautomatically raised from the wax as previously described. As the pan ortable In holding the wax can be made oi thin material, or somenonmetallic material, it will not store much heat, so that moving theheater unit away from the wax enables the latter to cool withcomparative rapidity.

It will be understood that it is unnecessary to heat the entire body ofwax. The application of sufflcient heat to just melt the upper surfaceis suflicient--a slight application of heat will cause the wax to blush,whereupon the recordings will disappear, as they are very shallow.

Occasionally the entire mass of wax can be melted in order to insureuniformity, and at such time the cuttings which are normally made during recording can be placed on top of the wax l2 and melted therein sothat but little wax will be lost over a long period of time. Thisthorough heating can be accomplished by adjusting the thermostat 28.

The "cooling period can also be predetermined by adjustment of the make"period of the thermostat, or in any other manner.

With some materials, it may be desirable to control the application ofheat to the record blank directly by the density thereof, instead ofrelying on the timing of thermostat 28. To accomplish this, theapparatus now to be described may be placed in circuit with thethermostat.

Referring to Figure 3, the numeral 36 generally denotes a device thatmay be mounted upon the heater unit i6 preferably at the center thereof,as no recordings are made at the center. This blank space in the recordmaterial can be utilized by placing in the center of the unit IS abearing block 31 in which is slidably mounted the plunger 38, the bottomend of which is given any suitable formation to properly engage theupper surface l2 of the wax when the heater unit is in heatingposition.-

Obviously, as long as the Wax is hard, the contact members connected tothe wires 39 and 40 will be held in engagement by the upward push of thestem of plunger 38 as it is held up by the wax l2 and the circuitsthrough the winding 30 of the holding magnet and the heater coil [1 areclosed. However, when the wax l2 melts, the plunger 38 will movedownwardly therein,

under the action of the spring contact memberv in contact therewith,thereby permitting the contact members connected to 39 and 40 to open.the circuit through the winding 30 and the heater coil II. It .will beobserved that this opening is dependent upon the density of the wax l2and cannot take place until the wax is soft enough to receive theplunger.

At the end of the operation just described, the

plunger 38 would be imbedded in the wax, as shown by the dotted line 4iin Figure 3, but a quick upward jerkoi the handle l6"- of the heaterunit on which the plunger contact mechanism is carried will dislodge theplunger, leaving a small hole in the center of the wax disc. As thiscenter is not traversed by either the recorder or I the reproducer, thepresence of this hole is not objectionable.

A study of Figure 2 will reveal that as soon as the thermostat 28 isoperated, (or if the device 36 is used as soon as it operates), whilemagnet coil 30 is deenergized and the heater unit l6 released so it canmove to non-operating position, that the motor circuit is com pleted atcontact 33 and it is therefore possible to start the motor. This isobjectionable, because the wax l2 may be too soft to take a recording.While a cooling period can be determined by adjusting the thermostat 28as previously mentioned, the following means is preferred to insure thata suitable cooling period elapses before the motor can be started.

Referring to Figure 4. the apparatus enclosed in the dotted line 42represents diagrammatically any suitable type of cyclic timing mechanism, such as an ordinary electric or springdriven clock or timingdevice having a suitable switching mechanism such as thatdiagrammatically indicated at 43. When it is desired to start theheating apparatus, the movable member 43 of the switching mechanism isplaced on the insulatedly mounted contact segment 44 and the clock isstarted. As long as 43 and 44 are in contact, the circuit will be closedand current will flow through the winding 30' and the heating coil H,thus determining the heating period, whilethe motor circuit will beopen, as shown.

When the member 43 rides off the segment 44 onto the insulatedly mountedsegment 45, the circuit through 30 and i1 is opened, and the motorcircuit also remains open. of this cooling period depends upon thelength of segment 45, and can therefore be predetermined. As the circuitis open'through the motor 34, it is impossible to start the latter untilthe member-43 makes contact with the insulatedly mounted segment 46whereon the timing device comes to rest, and while at rest the circuitis completed through the motor 34, as shown.

It will be observed from a study of the foregoing figure that thearrangement described provides, first a heating period, immediatelyfollowed by a cooling'period," and during both of these periods it isimpossible to start the motor of the phonograph.

By introducing the mechanism shown in Figure 3 into the circuit Figure4, as shown, it is of course possible to control the heating period bythe density of the wax l2, as previously de-- scribed. It will also beunderstood that if the timing arrangement shown in Figure 4 is used, itis not necessary to employ the switch mechanismshown in Figure 1 ascontrolled by the plunger 22; although if for any reason it is desiredto use contacts 23, 24, thereof, they may be serially included in thecircuit as shown at 41, in Figure'4.

When, as previously stated, the record table or container I0 forthe waxis removed from the phonograph instrument of which it is a part, and thesound recording on the meltable material or wax i2 is obliterated bymeans of heat, this heat can be applied in any suitable manner.

The length However, it is desirable to apply it by means of the aparatus herein described, insofar as timing the application of it isconcerned to prevent overheating and perhaps burning the wax. Obviously,when the container is removed from the phonograph to perform thisoperation, no necessity arises to disable the motor circuit of thephonograph to provide a. cooling period as previously described, andthis feature can be eliminated when the container is heated outside;obviously it would not be replaced in the phonograph until the wax I2 iscool enough to record thereon.

It will be obvious from the preceding description that the type ofrecord is immaterial, provided it has a meltable surface on which soundrecordings can be made by any suitable type of recorder-either bymechanical cutting or embossing or by any other means. An appropriatereproducer of any suitable type may also be used with these records inthe ordinary manner.

Also it will be apparent that the heater I! can be combined with thecontainer i so as to form part thereof. In this event, a longer coolingperiod will be necessary because the heater coil l1 and the surroundingmaterial must cool as well as the wax l2 in contact therewith, so thatthe drawings show a preferred form of the invention, as with the movableheater as shown the cooling period is considerably shortened, ascompared with any of the obvious modifications wherein the heater iscombined and always re mains in heat exchange relation with the recordor its support.

The separable joint l3 can be of any suitable construction that permitsthe removal of the container in rotatable relationship tothe drivingshaft of the motor. The attachment of the joint 13 to the bottom of thecontainer is preferably liquid-tight so that all the wax can beliquefied therein' without finding egress at this point. The motor l5,heater [6 and its support is, 20, the coil 30 and the contact mechanism23, 24, 33, and, if desired, the thermostat 28, 29, can all be mountedupon a common base 48 in any suitable manner.

Obviously each phonograph can be provided with spare containers so thatwhen one of them is in use on the machine, the records on others can beprocessed as herein described either in situ or by removing thecontainers.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of processing record blanks for phonographs which consistsof confining a body of meltable material in a container forming part ofa phonograph instrument, recording sound upon said material while thematerial is at substantially the temperature of its surroundings, and ina solid state, and obliterating said recording by the application ofheat to the entire recording surface of said material while the body ofsame. remains in a solid state and while same is confined in saidcontainer and at rest in position in the phonograph instrument.

2. A method of processing record blanks of solid material forphonographs including the first step of forming a surface adapted toreceive a recording on the blank by heating said surface while theremainder of said blank remains solid, while said record is at rest, thesecond step of cooling the surface of said blank to approximately thetemperature of its body portion and surroundings, and the third step ofrecording on said surface, all said steps being performed while theblank is in situ.

3. The method of treating records for eradicating recordings from thesurfaces thereof which includes the step of positioning a source ofradiant heat adjacent to and overlying said record to reduce the entiresurface of said record to a smooth state, removing said source, andpermitting said surface to cool and set.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 including the further step ofautomatically predetermining the length of time said radiant heat sourceis applied to said record.

5. The method as claimed in claim 3 including the further step ofautomatically predetermining the maximum temperature to which saidrecord is heated.

6. The method as claimed in claim 3 including the further step ofcontrolling the application of heat to the record by changes in thedensity thereof.

7. The method of treating disc records for eradicating recordings fromthe surfaces thereof which includes the steps of supporting said recordsubstantially level, positioning a source of radiant heat adjacent toand overlying said record to reduce the entire surface of said record toa smooth state, removing said source, and permitting said surface tocool and set.

I HARRY R. VAN DEVEN'I'ER.

